Sonic 1 Launching On 3DS As A 3D Classic

Another year, another insatiable urge for Sega to release a brand new iteration of Sonic 1. Launching May 15 in Japan, Sonic 1 joins Super Hang-On and Space Harrier as the first three 3D Classic Mega Drive remakes for the Nintendo 3DS. This is to commemorate the Mega Drive’s 25th Anniversary in Japan.

While this isn’t particularly thrilling news, and especially on the toes that Christian “The Taxman” Whitehead is at work on a Sonic 1 remake for Sega along with the Sonic Scene enigmatic man known as Stealth, the game will follow the line of other 3D Classic series titles on the 3DS that uses the system’s 3D features to add depth to the the game’s background.

As for what’s included in this particular version of Sonic 1, expect exciting new features such as the never-been-added-before Spin Dash Attack and special animations on Green Hill Zone’s clouds and Labyrinth Zone’s rippled water. Oh, and some nonsense about customizable controls and “CLASSIC” display mode, which makes the game look like you’re playing it right off a CRT TV running the Mega Drive via its RF Adapter.

For the audiophiles, a mode is also included to adjust the balance of the PSG and FM audio. On top of that, players can choose Mega Drive 1 sounding balance or Mega Drive 2.

While the core Sonic 1 experience is still the same as ever, the added features for general Mega Drive 3D Classic remakes are actually pretty neat, and certainly better influenced than Nintendo’s own 3D Classic outings.

Gene is the ghost of a Floridian who froze to death in a Chicago winter. He now haunts a server inside the Sears Tower and does terrible things on this very website. Also something about Sonic 2006 100% twice. It was awful.

😉 Being an audiophile after all, I especially love the bit about “audiophiles” since an audiophile would not even dare consider a 3DS or its counterparts in the Nintendo handheld family “hi-fi” devices. Just in case you did not know, a good MP3 player has a noise level averaging in around -85 to -90 decibels. The DS portable game system has numbers around 65 decibels (translated, very, very noisy and muddy to the ears), meaning it already has some, if not enough, of its own RF hum and grunge built-in for those seeking this sort of audiophilic immersion mimicking that of the vintage Genesis sound. For example, http://rmaa.elektrokrishna.com/Various/Nintendo%20DS%20Lite%20%28No%20Load%20vs%2016%20Ohm%29.htm

Instead, put in a crossfeed filter, though, (yes, crossfeed, and, again, it’s crossfeed, not crossfade, if you happened to confuse the two techno buzzwords 🙂 ) and I will love you, Sega, forever because headphones sound 100 percent better with it and you will put a huge smile on me, this headphone busting audiophile. Crossfeed makes headphone listening so much more speaker-like unlike the common funky virtual surround filters which put a ringy, metallic tone to anything they process. Just take my word for it. Or if not, read into the nitty gritty about it by Google-ing such terms as “Jan Meier crossfeed,” and looking into the source code for “Bauer stereophonic-to-binaural DSP.” So much audio factoids to uncover there alone. hehe

A lot of that terminology and jargon went straight over my head like a bowel-irritated seagull, but one problem you have in your comparisons is that you’re using the classic DS/DSLite. The 3DS is a whole separate beast, considering it can run games at Gamecube quality just about.
I’m sure that, likewise, the sound quality has GREATLY improved since the original DS, and this isn’t taking headphones into account either.

To quote Half-Life 2, we’ve made major strides since then. Major strides.